F1: Hamilton Wins United States GP as Ferrari take Double Podium

Lewis Hamilton has won the United States GP 2017, a race that had a dramatic finish with some impromptu position changes among the leaders. Unaffected was Hamilton, but teammate Bottas found himself outside the podium after being passed by both Vettel and Verstappen. Next was Raikkonen, initially running second before allowing Vettel to pass him, and while he sat in third, Verstappen snatched that position on the final lap.

Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day but that was it, as the stewards gave him a 5s penalty for leaving the track and gaining advantage while passing Raikkonen. So Raikkonen was back on the podium again. As for Hamilton, this was his fifth win in Austin. With 575 points, Mercedes-AMG has won the 2017 Formula 1 World Constructors’ Championship title.

Top 10 United States GP 2017 Results

Vettel had the best start at the United States GP 2017, jumping pole starter Hamilton. Bottas held third firmly followed by Ricciardo and Raikkonen.

On lap 7 Hamilton managed to retake the lead with the help of DRS and by lap 10 he had a 3s gap over Vettel. Ricciardo began to slow down on lap 16 before retiring with an engine failure. Vettel meanwhile made his first stop on the following lap taking on some soft tires. Hamilton also made his stop and picked up the same compound as Vettel, he rejoined just ahead of the Ferrari.

Verstappen held the lead on lap 21 but he was yet to stop, the Red Bull started on super softs. For a moment Hamilton had DRS on Verstappen but the Dutchman did a pretty good job defending his place. That did not last long however as the World Champion set a new fastest lap on 1m39.233s and effectively passed Verstappen for first place. The Red Bull had no choice but to pit after that stint, softs for him as well.

Alonso suffered an engine problem on lap 25, and his team asked him to back off. “I can’t believe it…another 6 or 8 points” cried Alonso over the radio. The McLaren was officially retired.

US GP 2017

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While running in P5, Verstappen set a new fastest lap of the race on 1m38.523s. The top five on lap 31/56 were Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen and Verstappen.

Lap 38 and Verstappen made his second stop this time picking up super softs, Ferrari did the same thing for Vettel on the following lap. An immediate fastest lap from Verstappen after that stop on 1m38.060s.

10 laps to go and Vettel and Verstappen were now 6s behind Bottas for the final podium spot. Raikkonen was pretty comfortable in second place, albeit some 12s behind Hamilton. And Vettel still managed to set a fastest lap in the process with a 1m37.957s time and was 1s behind Bottas. He did manage to take third after several attempts, and Raikkonen was kind enough to let his teammate pass through to second.

Verstappen also managed to pass Bottas for fourth and with the help of DRS on the final lap, the Red Bull driver “unleashed his lion” and passed Raikkonen for third. For Hamilton, this was another Grand Prix win in his pocket.